• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.47-88
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• 2010

Focusing on the Korean experience, particularly a recent amendment which extends maternity leave and increases financial benefits during maternity and childcare leave, this paper evaluates how such an expansion of benefits affects the employment and the hourly wages of young wages of childbearing age. Empirical results from a difference--in-difference-in-differences model having older warren, older men, and young men simultaneously as the control group suggest that neither the employment nor the hourly wages of young women are affected. This implies that the law change does not cause shifts in the labor supply curve and the labor demand curve for young women.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.181-208
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• 2010

Maternity services is often perceived as a troublesome business and obstetric litigation is on the increase in Western countries. Overall, the number of claim and cost of litigation to the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) from maternity services in the UK is increasing every year. Maternity services account for 60-70% of the total sum paid. This has widespread implications for both the individual practitioners and the institutions where they work, due to increasing malpractice insurance premiums. Fear of litigation is also attracting fewer medical graduates into the specialty, leading to a recruitment crisis in obstetrics and gynaecology. The litigation process can cause pain, suffering and distress to clinicians as well as to the patients and their families. Litigation in maternity services is the result of a complex of events when malpractice (presumed or real) impacts on the attitude of pregnant women and their environment. In such complexity, information is mandatory but may often be misinterpreted. If messages are not tailored to the receiver's capacity, communicating well with the pregnant patient becomes crucial. Therefore, to reduce medicallegal issues in obstetrics, increasing attention and an applicable standard of obstetric care to avoid negligence and medical errors should go along with other measures. Considering UK's experiences, NHS redress scheme make it easier to pursue small claims and birth related claims, without necessarily reducing the number of claims processed through the conventional legal system and perhaps encouraging even more of them. The task of dealing with the greater number of inquiries into their practice would inevitably create an added burden for clinicians and hospital managers. Thus further proposals are required to limit the cost of processing inflated claims and to consider whether clinicians should be given some protection from litigation alleging a failure to prevent birth related impairment.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.63-72
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors related to how Korean working mothers balance work and family. We used the first year data of 1661 working mothers participating Korean Longitudinal Study of Women and Families. When mothers were living with their parents-in-law, reported higher level of work-family spillover; whereas satisfaction with husband's household chores was more their related to lower level of work-family spillover. Attitudes placing lower priority on family, disagreement on their works with husband, and traditional family role perception were related to higher level of work-family interference. We also found that salary, working hours, job satisfaction, and a series of maternity protection programs, including maternity leave, were significantly related to work-family balance.